Plans win go-ahead for new mental health service

Plans for a new building in Daventry for the mental health service MIND have been given approval following a meeting.

Daventry District Council’s (DDC) strategy group met on Thursday last week to approve the proposal which will see it developed in Jubilee Road.

The service is currently based near to the library which is due to be demolished under plans for the town centre vision drawn up by DDC.

This has meant DDC needed to find a new building for Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) in which to host MIND.

One of the leaders of MIND in the town believes the new building can have a number of benefits to the clients.

Mary Doyle, service manager for Daventry and District MIND, said: “We are very pleased that the new building has now been given the go-ahead.

“It will make a lot of difference to the people in Daventry.

“Because we are dealing with people with mental health problems, we wanted somewhere quite centrally near to all of the amenities the town has to offer, but also somewhere where our people who visit us feel safe.

“This new building means we are near the leisure centre which we use for activities.

“It was also key for us to be near a bus stop as a lot of our clients come in from villages around the district and it is very important to us that they can still access the service.”

Mrs Doyle said she hoped the move would come in the near future.

She added: “We are not quite sure when it is going to be built because it ties into the redevelopment of the town. But we are looking forward to being able to use it when it is finished.”

A report seen by councillors prior to determining the application stated the building is set to be constructed starting in the summer and into January 2014 to enable staff to be transferred to the new site.

The report also state s that work on site 1, where the current MIND building is located, will start in May 2014 subject to planning permission. This development, known as Mulbery Place, will see a new library, cinema and shopping area. It says: “Relocation of NCC’s mental health service provider is an essential component in enabling the development of the site.”